The present invention relates generally to a slotted electrical connector in which one or more wires are electrically terminated or connected and more particularly to an improvement in a split cylinder type of connector having an elongated tubular sleeve and a wire receiving slot or seam for receiving said wire and retaining the same in electrical connection with the connector.
There are many split cylinder type connectors which presently exist in the prior art. Three such connectors are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,141,618, 4,283,105 and 3,845,455. A split cylinder type connector makes electrical engagement with the terminated or connected wire by insulation displacement rather than by conventional soldering or stripping of insulation. A typical split cylinder connector includes an elongated, tubular element having a longitudinal wire receiving slot or seam extending throughout a substantial portion of the tubular member. Although the tubular member of most split cylinder connectors in the prior art are cylindrically shaped and have a generally circular cross-section, they can have various other shapes as illustrated by the generally rectangular cross-sectional configuration in U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,455. The split cylinder connector is used to terminate or to electrically connect various electrical leads or terminals with one another. Such connectors are commonly used in the communications or data transmission or processing area although they can clearly be used for other applications as well.
In the split cylinder connectors of the prior art, a wire is first laid over the top or open end of the tubular member. A wire insertion tool is then used to force the wire downwardly into the elongated tubular member and within the wire receiving slot so that the opposing edges of the slot pierce the insulation, thus making electrical contact with the conductor portion of the wire. Means are also normally provided in the connector for severing the free end of the wire. Although the split cylinders presently existing in the art are satisfactory for many applications, particularly those where individual wires are terminated or connected via the aforementioned insertion tool prior to termination or connection of the next wire, they have serious drawbacks when a plurality of such connectors are arranged in an array and it is desired to first align all of the wires and then to terminate the same, one after the other, with the insertion tool. Although it would be much more efficient to terminate a plurality of wires in this manner, the present split cylinder connectors do not permit this type of procedure since each of the wires must be laid over the open end of the cylinder, retained in that position manually and then terminated prior to proceeding with the next wire.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a split cylinder connector which includes means for retaining a wire in an aligned or ready state for termination so that a plurality of such wires can first be aligned and then terminated consecutively.